j.m@talk
09-25-2005, 06:44 PM
LONDON (Reuters) - A British lord was sentenced to 16 months in jail on Thursday for deliberately starting a blaze in a hotel and endangering lives after a boozy awards dinner in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh.
Mike Watson, who represented Prime Minister
Tony Blair's Labor Party in the House of Lords and the Scottish parliament, pleaded guilty to setting light to a curtain in the hotel following a Scottish Politician of the Year awards ceremony on November 12 last year.
During his trial, the court was shown closed circuit television footage of a figure dressed in a kilt, crouching at the base of the curtain which moments later burst into flames.
The figure was shown placing something in his sporran, the pouch which Scots traditionally wear over their kilts. The prosecution alleged it was a box of matches.
Watson's lawyer accepted his client had drunk "more than was wise" on the evening in question.
Experts told the court the blaze caused 4,500 pounds of damage and had endangered lives.
Watson, 56, has since resigned his seat in the Scottish parliament and his post as director of Scottish football club Dundee United.
After he left court in hand-cuffs, the Scottish Labor Party said it had expelled him.
"He has lost his seat in the Scottish parliament, his career and his reputation and now having already paid a heavy price, he has been jailed," the party said in a statement.
"His sentence illustrates that if you commit a serious crime in Scotland, no matter who you are, you must face the consequences. That is right."
http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/nws/p/reuters120.gif
Thats where the kids get there ideas from :rolleyes:
Mike Watson, who represented Prime Minister
Tony Blair's Labor Party in the House of Lords and the Scottish parliament, pleaded guilty to setting light to a curtain in the hotel following a Scottish Politician of the Year awards ceremony on November 12 last year.
During his trial, the court was shown closed circuit television footage of a figure dressed in a kilt, crouching at the base of the curtain which moments later burst into flames.
The figure was shown placing something in his sporran, the pouch which Scots traditionally wear over their kilts. The prosecution alleged it was a box of matches.
Watson's lawyer accepted his client had drunk "more than was wise" on the evening in question.
Experts told the court the blaze caused 4,500 pounds of damage and had endangered lives.
Watson, 56, has since resigned his seat in the Scottish parliament and his post as director of Scottish football club Dundee United.
After he left court in hand-cuffs, the Scottish Labor Party said it had expelled him.
"He has lost his seat in the Scottish parliament, his career and his reputation and now having already paid a heavy price, he has been jailed," the party said in a statement.
"His sentence illustrates that if you commit a serious crime in Scotland, no matter who you are, you must face the consequences. That is right."
http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/nws/p/reuters120.gif
Thats where the kids get there ideas from :rolleyes: